Sperm whale washes up on Spanish beach with 29 kg of plastic inside it

This plastic was found inside the stomach of a sperm whale that washed up on shore in Spain.

Twitter / @EspaciosNaturalesMur

Over 29 kilograms of man-made plastic was found in the stomach of a sperm whale that washed up dead on a beach at Cabo de Palos, Spain, earlier this year.

According to government officials in the region, the large amount of plastic bags, mangled rope, glass, and “sacks of Raffia,” which is a material made from palm trees, and even a drum, gave the whale peritonitis, an inflammation of the stomach lining which ultimately killed it.

“The presence of plastics in seas and oceans is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of wildlife throughout the world,” said Consuelo Rosauro, the general director of the natural environment ministry of the Murcia region.

The incident prompted an awareness campaign and a drive to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean. Spaniards will band together to clean up 11 beaches.

Advocacy organization Plastic Oceans reports that an estimated eight million tons of plastic is thrown into the bodies of water each year. Much of the trash is commonly-used items such as disposable water bottles and plastic bags.